Standard bicone antenna designs have an insufficiently narrow operating frequency range which is not desirable in certain applications. In many cases, the feed regions where the two points of the cones meet does not employ a geometry supporting the standard required 50Ω impedance for proper operation when connected to a transmission line. As a result, the manufacturer typically places a resistor in between the two cones, which not only lowers the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR), but also reduces effective antenna performance. In addition, the use of radial, flared and stepwise extensions from the bicone structure have resulted in significant ripple and undesirable lobes in antenna gain performance, both in azimuth and elevation patterns.
There is a need for an improved bicone antenna design that is suitable for a wide operating frequency range, such as from low Very High Frequency (VHF) through Super High Frequency (SHF), and that also provides high power handling.